Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom)

Segev Shalom lies on Highway 25 roughly four kilometers from Beersheba. The 2024 government profile describes it as the smallest of the Bedouin authorities in the Negev; its declared area is approximately 13.5 square kilometers, and it sits at an elevation of 314 meters.[2] Two wadis define its immediate geography: Nokdim Wadi lies to the east of the town and Tzan Wadi to the west.[2] Flood danger is classified as medium, arising mainly from obstructions in drainage channels rather than from severe precipitation events.[2] The Drainage Authority has cleared and regulated Nokdim Wadi, while treatment of Tzan Wadi was incorporated into plans for the town's western neighborhood.[2] Waste blocking drainage channels is also listed as a local environmental hazard.[2]

The climate is characteristically desert, and intense sun exposure makes everyday activity in public open spaces difficult. The average daily maximum temperature was 26.2°C in 2022, compared with 25°C for the 2001–2010 baseline period.[2] About 72% of the council's jurisdiction was unbuilt in the 2024 profile, and less than 1% of the area was vegetated.[2] The built-up area nevertheless doubled between 2013 and 2022, reflecting rapid population growth and ongoing construction.[2]

Most homes are connected to the national electricity grid, and the town is served by the Neve Midbar Water Corporation. Water loss in the local system stands at 18.6% — nearly double the national average of approximately 9.64% recorded in 2018.[2]

The seven planned Bedouin townships of the Negev — of which Segev Shalom is one — emerged from a government resettlement program initiated in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[5] The program was part of a broader policy shift: earlier Israeli policy had favored rural agricultural villages and the transfer of Bedouin into peasant farming, but state planning subsequently moved toward urban concentration.[6] The seven towns were built between approximately 1967 and 1990 as purpose-designed settlements intended to draw formerly nomadic or semi-nomadic Bedouin into permanent communities.[3]

Sources give different dates for Segev Shalom's establishment. A University of Haifa Herzl Institute study records 1979 as the year residential plots were allocated and occupation began, and 1991 as the year its local outline plan was approved.[3] Globes similarly reports that the town was established in 1979.[4] Encyclopedia.com gives 1984 as its founding year, while a Ynet article groups Segev Shalom among towns established by the beginning of the 1970s.[5][7] The sources do not reconcile these dates or explain whether they refer to planning, residential allocation, initial occupation, or another administrative milestone.

Across the seven-town program, Bedouin residents were moved from areas vacated for military use, particularly after the 1979 peace agreement with Egypt.[8] Those seeking plots in the new towns were required to settle claims to lands they had previously occupied, which led many Bedouin families to resist relocation.[5]

An INSS report discusses Segev Shalom in connection with the landmark High Court case HCJ 528/88, Avitan v. Israel Lands Administration. Eliezer Avitan, a Jewish Israeli citizen, challenged the refusal to lease him a plot after government resolutions had designated the settlement for Bedouin only.[9] The High Court upheld the state's position, with Justice Or writing that the interest in facilitating permanent Bedouin settlement, "in conjunction with the need to change the decades-old values, customs, and practices of the Bedouin sector, justifies giving Bedouin precedence in the awarding of plots of land, at subsidized terms, in the settlement that was meant to facilitate their permanent settlement."[9]

Sources also disagree on when Segev Shalom received local-council status: Globes reports 1996, while the Herzl Institute chapter gives 2000.[4][3] The Herzl chapter describes subsequent council elections as arenas of competition among tribes over local authority and its associated resources, and it reports that the Islamic Movement won local elections in Segev Shalom in 2004.[3] During 2012, the Settlement Authority for the Bedouin in the Negev was engaged in infrastructure development in Segev Shalom and several other localities.[10]

Segev Shalom's population has grown substantially since its founding. The Jewish Virtual Library recorded 2,600 residents in 1998.[11] By the end of 2004, Encyclopedia.com reported 5,900 residents, placing it among the smaller of the seven Bedouin townships at that time — considerably behind Rahat, which counted 37,400 residents and was described as the informal Bedouin "capital" of the Negev.[5]

Preliminary government estimates put the population at approximately 11,806 at the end of November 2021, up from 11,363 at the start of that year. Natural increase accounted for 337, internal migration for 95, and international migration for 11 of the gain.[12]

The 2024 government profile gives three population figures for the period around 2022: 12,540 according to Central Bureau of Statistics data for the end of 2022; 12,500 in a resource-allocation table; and 14,650 in a welfare-services section. The profile does not explain these differences.[2] Beyond the town's declared population, the council provides education and welfare services to approximately 25,000 additional residents of dispersed communities in the surrounding area.[2]

The population structure reflects very high birth rates and a markedly young community. The median age was 19 in the profile's 2022 census-based comparison, and 43% of residents were between the ages of 0 and 15.[2] In the council's separate vulnerability assessment, approximately 48% of residents are described as children.[2] Households are large: 32.6% had six or more members.[2]

The Negev Bedouin population as a whole — of which Segev Shalom's residents are part — numbered an estimated 145,000 at the time of one report, with roughly 65,000 living in the seven planned towns and about 80,000 in unrecognized villages.[7] Across the seven towns, the Herzl Institute records the combined urban Bedouin population growing from about 6,300 in 1980 to 35,200 in 1990, 73,000 in 2000, 113,400 in 2010, and 167,700 in 2020; by its most recent count, more than 60% of all Negev Bedouin lived in the seven towns.[3]

A major employer in Segev Shalom is the Of Oz poultry plant. In January 2013, the facility employed approximately 700 workers, half of them Bedouin women.[10] Mako reported that the company relocated its production line from Hadera to Segev Shalom with encouragement and financial incentives from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The factory was set alight during construction, causing damage worth tens of millions of shekels, but its owners rebuilt it with assistance from local residents.[13]

A 2014 Globes report gave the workforce as approximately 1,000, of whom 80% were Muslims — most of them Segev Shalom residents — and 10% were ultra-Orthodox workers employed as slaughterers and kashrut supervisors.[14] The plant's owner built a mosque with separate prayer rooms for men and women for Muslim employees, and a mikveh, synagogue, and Torah-study room for ultra-Orthodox employees.[14] The plant's CEO, Nawaf Abu Muammar, was identified as a resident of Segev Shalom.[14] Police attributed a reported sharp decline in crime in the town and neighboring localities to employment created by the factory, though the claim was not independently corroborated.[13]

Wider employment statistics reveal a community with limited economic participation but one that nonetheless compares favorably with other Bedouin local authorities. In the 2024 profile, 35% of residents aged 15 and over were employed, and 44% of National Insurance-insured residents were wage earners, while 4.8% were self-employed.[2] Some 31.5% of wage earners earned below the monthly minimum wage, and 26% of women were employed — with 74% of women aged 15 and over having not worked during the previous 12 months.[2] About 23% of workers held occupations involving physical labor and outdoor work.[2] Local income was low relative to the general Israeli population but relatively high compared with other Bedouin authorities in the Negev.[2] Only 4.1% of residents aged 15 and over held academic qualifications, against 20.0% for the Southern District as a whole.[2]

Segev Shalom led the other Bedouin authorities in economic stability and the percentage of employed residents.[2] The council's own-source revenue represented 10.7% of its regular budget, and it ranked 60th in the national financial-resilience ranking of local authorities.[2] Public buildings, education services, maintenance capacity, professional staff, small businesses, and a developed industrial zone distinguish Segev Shalom from weaker Bedouin councils.[2]

A 2004 Ynet report captured an earlier and more difficult period: a poultry plant planned after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon laid its cornerstone during a visit the previous year had not materialized by the time of publication, and the local council head, Saeed al-Harimi, estimated that only about half of the town's students completed high school.[15] The report also noted a government decision to allocate NIS 1.1 billion for infrastructure and permanent Bedouin settlements across the Negev, without specifying the portion earmarked for Segev Shalom.[15]

Tribal organization remains an important feature of civic life in Segev Shalom. The Herzl Institute chapter describes how, after Segev Shalom and four other Bedouin towns received local-council status in 2000 according to its chronology, elections for council heads and council seats became arenas of competition among tribes over local authority and the distribution of public resources.[3] The chapter also reports that the Islamic Movement won local elections in Segev Shalom in 2004.[3] Media coverage identified Saeed al-Harumi, then a Ra'am member of the Knesset, as a resident of Segev Shalom.[1]

Women in Segev Shalom have increasingly carved out independent civic roles. A Times of Israel profile describes resident Zenab Garabia, who returned to education at age 24 after spending years at home working in her family's fields near Wadi Na'am.[16] She went on to study art, teach in area schools, and produce clay works incorporating traditional Bedouin designs and embroidery, saying of her creations: "When you buy something, a part of my mother's soul goes with you."[16]

Another resident, Amal Abo Alqom, established a day-care center after resuming her studies, helped create a sports program for local children, and co-founded the group Women for Themselves, which offers lectures, trips, and classes.[16] Women in the group also teach younger generations traditional crafts, storytelling, and the use of medicinal herbs.[16] These initiatives represent women taking active roles in community-building while traditional social structures remain influential.[3][16]

Segev Shalom has eight elementary and secondary schools and 52 kindergartens.[2] Matriculation eligibility rose from 52% to 58% between 2020 and 2022, and the student dropout rate for 2019/20 stood at 6.2%.[2] Some educational institutions are equipped with solar panels generating a total of 1 MW, with reported annual revenue of approximately NIS 1 million from electricity generation.[2] The Jewish Virtual Library states that all Bedouin high schools in the Negev, and 60% of elementary schools, were located in the seven planned towns collectively; it does not specify a separate count for Segev Shalom.[11] Clinics likewise operated in all seven Bedouin towns, though the source does not break out Segev Shalom's health facilities individually.[11]

The social-services dimension of the town has been documented since at least the early 2000s. A 2003 Sh'ma article identified Segev Shalom's social-services director, H'ir Aldin Elbaz, as serving not only town residents but also Bedouin living in unrecognized villages in the wider area.[17] Elbaz said of the conditions he encountered: "Reality is harsher than any study."[17] He recounted one case in which a father with no income locked himself, his wife, and their seven children in a room during a festival so they would not see neighbors eating a festive meal and receiving holiday gifts.[17]

A study of Negev residents seeking social-services assistance found that 71% of Bedouin respondents reported lacking resources for adequate food, compared with 36% of Jewish respondents. It also found that 87% of Bedouin respondents said it had occasionally happened in the previous year that they lacked food to give a child for school or kindergarten, against 40% of Jewish respondents.[17] These figures are drawn from individuals seeking assistance, not from a representative survey of Segev Shalom's population as a whole.

The council also extends welfare and educational services to approximately 25,000 additional residents of the dispersed population beyond its formal jurisdiction — a substantial service burden that is not fully reflected in per-capita resource calculations.[2]

Most homes in Segev Shalom are connected to the national electricity grid.[2] Water is supplied through the Neve Midbar Water Corporation, though water loss in the system — at 18.6% — is roughly double the national average of approximately 9.64% recorded in 2018.[2] Council institutions accounted for 13% of total water consumption, or 96,000 cubic meters annually, of which 1% was used for irrigation and gardening.[2]

Public transportation presents ongoing difficulties. Accessibility is relatively high compared with other Bedouin localities — partly reflecting the town's proximity to Beersheba — but service quality is very poor in terms of route coverage, frequency, stop distribution, and distance from residential areas.[2] These shortcomings encourage private-car use for trips within and beyond the town; slightly more than 4,000 vehicles were registered in Segev Shalom at the time of the profile.[2] Residents who lack private vehicles must walk through areas with inadequate infrastructure and little shade.[2]

Road safety has historically been a severe concern. A 2004 Ynet report described a deadly crash at the junction connecting Segev Shalom to the busy Dimona–Beersheba road, in which four young people traveling to a football match entered the highway and were struck by another vehicle; three died and one survived.[15] The same report stated that nine young people from the town had died on its main road in preceding years and described a single weekend in which six young people from Segev Shalom died in separate road incidents.[15]

The internal layout of Segev Shalom is distinctive among the seven Bedouin towns. A Herzl Institute study notes that nearly all public areas were located along the main road and outside residential neighborhoods, with open spaces placed as buffers between neighborhoods rather than within them.[3] This contrasts with other planned Bedouin towns where facilities such as kindergartens, mosques, and public gardens were placed inside residential neighborhoods.[3]

In 2017, the Southern District Planning and Building Committee approved a master plan for Segev Shalom for deposit. The plan proposed approximately 10,100 additional housing units intended to accommodate roughly 40,000 people, along with approximately 190 dunams west of the town designated for regional public services including colleges, health institutions, and commercial centers.[4] Planning Administration guidelines called for preserving Nahal Tzan and Nahal Nokdim as open areas and for providing land for livestock keeping, greenhouses, and other agricultural development.[4]

A separate 2017 plan addressed two new residential neighborhoods on Segev Shalom's western edge — Nahal Tzan South and Nahal Tzan North. Ynet gave a total of approximately 2,335 housing units, but its stated neighborhood figures — about 1,306 units across 932 dunams in the southern neighborhood and 997 units across 1,072 dunams in the northern neighborhood — add to 2,303.[18] The plan was framed as part of a five-year economic and social development program and was intended to address natural population growth while providing housing for residents of the Wadi al-Na'am dispersed community and potentially other unrecognized settlements.[18]

A further plan approved in 2018 addressed Bedouin dispersal areas between Beersheba and Ramat Hovav, on land west of Segev Shalom between the town and Route 40.[19] That plan included approximately 3,400 housing units for about 5,000 residents — 1,900 apartments in buildings of up to five floors and 1,500 ground-oriented units on plots of 250 square meters each.[19] It also set aside 241,547 square meters for public and educational buildings, an approximately 1,000-dunam expansion of the industrial zone with 28,000 square meters of commercial and employment building rights, and a new access road connecting to Route 40.[19]

Segev Shalom is ranked in socioeconomic cluster 1 — the lowest tier on Israel's current standardized scale — though it performs somewhat better than several other Bedouin townships.[2] A 2015 U.S. Department of State human-rights report stated that only Rahat, Hura, and Segev Shalom among the Bedouin towns scored two out of ten on the scale used at that time, with the rest scoring one; it attributed the assessment to NGOs, Bedouin leaders, and the government.[20] Across the seven townships collectively, experts cited by Encyclopedia.com pointed to insufficient land allocations, restrictive planning rules, limited local-government budgets, scarce government employment, and inadequate education, health, social, and recreational services compared with neighboring Jewish localities.[5]

The State Department report also described the broader policy tension around Bedouin settlement in the Negev: the government offered low-cost land and compensation for demolition of illegal structures to encourage residents of unrecognized villages to relocate to established towns, while some Bedouin said relocation would require them to relinquish claims to land their families had occupied for generations and to separate from their traditional livelihoods.[20] Encyclopedia.com records that Bedouin seeking a plot in one of the townships were required to settle prior land claims as a condition of eligibility, which made many families reluctant to move.[5]

The National Library of Israel gives wider demographic context: before Israel's establishment, an estimated 110,000 Bedouin lived in the country; most left for neighboring countries after the War of Independence, and nearly 11,000 remained, concentrated primarily in the Beersheba region.[21] Ben-Gurion University research characterizes the broader trajectory as a transformation from nomadic life to state-directed urbanization, tracing the reasoning and implementation of policies whose outcomes the study describes as problematic.[6]

A 2003 Sh'ma article's footnote described the government's original planning of the seven urban villages as an effort to concentrate Bedouin in a small number of nonagricultural settlements and minimize the land available to them. It characterized the villages as having poor infrastructure, few employment opportunities, and low-grade education and health services at that time, placing all seven among the country's 15 poorest settlements.[17] These are historical assessments, and conditions have evolved since then; the 2024 government profile documents subsequent improvements in employment, education, and infrastructure.[2]